Tale's Truth
by Wilona Riva
Summary: A conversation, a shoe, twins, a witch, a few mermaids,an unhandsome son, a sneaky pig with some ginger, a tiny girl getting ready for a party, and one very annoyed troll. There's more to fairy tales than meets the eye.
1. Snow White: Queen's Men

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and don't own them in any way.

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_Another one of my transferred stories. These are fairy tales as you've never read them before._

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**Snow White: Queen's Men**

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"Your mirror has pewter for brains," the huntsman told the queen.

"I don't tell the blasted thing what to say!" Madge, Queen of Envyie, retorted. "Besides, have you heard them play lately? They're awful."

"And Snow sings like a lark. How'd you find out about that audition anyway?" the huntsman asked.

"Do you think I spend all day primping in front of my enchanted glass?" the queen replied.

The huntsman smirked. "So where do you want me to take her?"

"To Deep Woods," came the queen's remark.

"Madge, that's a gothic hangout! Next, you'll be asking me to cut her heart out so you can eat it," the huntsman protested.

"I'm not that jealous of the girl's beauty," Madge shot back. _Seven Dwarfs_ is the perfect band for her to join."

"Snow will make you wear red hot iron shoes at her wedding and dance until you die for this," the huntsman reminded her of Snow's promise to the queen last night.

"I don't expect any less from her," Queen Madge replied, picking up her enchanted mirror from the night table. Her carmine lips curled cruelly at the edges. "Unless you really do want to cut out her heart for me?"

"I'll take her to Deep Woods tonight," the huntsman sighed.

"Good," Madge replied, admiring her new peacock earrings.


	2. Cinderella: Sister's Shoe

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Cinderella: Sister's Shoe**

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My life stinks, plain and simple.

The ugly girl tugs me on-the one wearing the wimple.

My beautiful crystalline surface is marred and chipped;

The other ugly girl is miffed.

Where is the girl with skin white as the moon

And hair spun golden as the sun,

With small feet that dance light on air?

It is she, my true owner, who should marry the throne's heir.

I began life as a lady's silken slipper, then fast fell to rags.

A cobbler breathed new life into me and shored my soles and sides.

Now I've been made into this fine stuff, strong as steel and brittle as glass.

Wait a sec, why are they dripping blood into me?

No, they didn't!

They did.

Poor, Ella.

I belong to the true bride.

Poor, Ella.


	3. Rapunzel: Twins' Query

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Rapunzel: Twins' Query**

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"Momma? Where's Daddy?" little Josera asked her mother.

"Looking for us," her mother replied, feeling her short-cropped hair.

"Why do you keep touching your hair like that?" Jasper asked.

"It just feels so strange to have short hair," Rapunzel answered.

"Why didn't Daddy take you away the first time?" Josera interrupted.

"How long was your hair before you cut it?"

"What did Daddy look like?"

"Did you have a lot of tangles?"

"Peace," their mother declared. "Come sit on my lap and I tell you the story of a witch who locked me up in a high tower when I was no older than you. For you see, it was there in that tower that I met your father."

Both golden haired imps settled down to hear their mother's tale.

"Once upon a time..."


	4. Little Mermaid: A Gift Wasted

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Little Mermaid: A Gift Wasted**

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She didn't do enough.

Oh, it takes more than the loss of one's voice, a pretty face, and body language to snare one's prince.

What she should have done was learn to write in his language. Or learn the language of signing.

The prince was well versed in both.

But not she.

I surveyed the Sea King's daughters. "So you wish to save your sister's life?" I asked them.

"Yes," the oldest, Princess Shingrea, responded.

"Do each of you agree to my price?" I asked, looking each girl full in the eyes. Only the fourth princess, Ichritoca, looked away, tears in her eyes. It was her hair I coveted the most-a cloud of the finest spun silk, the color of moon on the water.

"Yes," I heard her echo with the others.

With a flash of my knife, I shortened their lives. A mermaid's life is her glory-her crown of flowing silk. I flung the locks in my cauldron and stirred to the currents of the ocean.

After sprinkling a bit of sea maiden foam into the cauldron, came the tricky part. I needed to add the tongue of the mermaid, who had sold it to me in exchange for legs to walk with on land. That being said and done, I needed to soak the dagger for an hour in the potion, with the final ingredient-a drop of my own blood-in order to seal the spell.

One hour passes by swiftly under the sea.

"Take this dagger to your sister," I instructed the oldest daughter. "She must plunge it into the prince's heart. When his blood touches her feet, they will dissolve into fins and she will become a mermaid once more."

Princess Villnaustre, the fifth-born, choked back a sob.

"But a caution," I warned them, holding up a finger. "She must do this before the sun rises or both you and she will be foam on the waves."

Affwisnau and Ofincol, second- and third-born twins, nodded gravely. "We must hurry, eldest sister," they said. "It is past the time the moon has set."

Shingrea bowed to me and fled post-haste towards the grand barge floating on the surface; her sisters following.

I hummed to myself as I began cleaning my largest coral jar. Soon, I would have a large abundance of mermaid foam for my spells.

The gift wasn't wasted after all


	5. Little Mermaid: That Last Sunrise

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Little Mermaid: That Last Sunrise**

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The youngest mermaid raised the witch-dagger high above her head and brought it slamming home, stopping an inch above his heart.

It skipped a beat.

She dropped the dagger and fled.

_I can't destroy an innocent life._

She leaned over the rail and closed her eyes.

_"Plunge the dagger in his heart, Crislia, and when his blood touches your feet, you will return to us," eldest sister Shingrea had said._

She folded her arms on the rails and bowed her head.

_They all seemed so sad. They'd shorn their locks to pay the witch for my life. _

A soft touch whispered against her cheek.

"Don't cry," a voice told her.

She looked up and gasped.

"Where am I?"

"You are among the daughters of the air," the voice explained.

The sun fully arose over the gates of the east as the sailors searched the deck for the silent companion of their prince.

"It's the only place she could have gone, Highness," the first mate reported. "I'm sorry."

The prince stared down at the coral dagger in his hands.

_She stood over him, dagger poised to strike. He looked at her from under his lashes, sleep fogging his brain slowly beginning to lift. What...?_

_His heart skipped a beat._

_She dropped the dagger and fled._

_I can't destroy an innocent life._

"Did I imagine it all?" he wondered aloud.


	6. Ugly Duckling: Swan's Egg

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Ugly Duckling: Swan's Egg**

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"Well, Mrs. Duck, it seems indeed that one of my eggs did roll into your nest," Mrs. Swan said, examining the boy closely. "He'll be a handsome lad when he grows up."

"Well, he makes one ugly duckling," Mrs. Duck replied. "Everyone picks on him, even the barn cats. For a while, we were afraid he was a chicken, but he took to the water like a natural-born fowl."

"A chicken? Why ever would you think that? He's got webbed feet, by gosh, not clodhoppers like them barnyard fowls," Mrs. Swan was shocked that Mrs. Duck would even suggest such a thing.

"Is it too late for you to take him back?" Mrs. Duck asked timidly.

"He's impressed you, dearie," Mrs. Swan replied, swimming away. "Raise him the best you know how."

"Aristocratic long neck," Mrs. Duck grumbled, herding her unhandsome son back to the nest.


	7. Three Little Pigs: Crystallized Ginger

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Three Little Pigs: Crystallized Ginger**

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"Wait!" the pig with the straw hut yelled, as I began to draw a large gulp of air.

"What?" I asked, exhaling.

"You have to eat this," he said, producing a lump of brownish candy. "It aids with digestion."

"What is it?" I asked warily, looking for the catch.

"Crystallized ginger," he explained. "Try some."

I sniffed it, but couldn't detect any suspicious odors. Placing it on my tongue, I chewed it slowly and nearly yelped at the sharp flavor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little pig lock himself in his hut.

"Like that's going to keep me out," I muttering, inhaling another large gulp of air.

I exhaled in a huge huff, blowing golden strands of straw everywhere.

I glared at the pig.

"Well?" I growled.

He ran.

"I so love a good run before dinner," I toothily grinned, giving chase.


	8. Thumbelina: 'Lil Ole Petite Thing

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Thumbelina: 'Lil Ole Petite Thing**

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"How am I going to find a dress for the dance tonight?" Lina shouted, her brown eyes offsetting her rosewood colored hair.

"Lina, you have a dozen dresses in your closet that will suffice in a pinch," her mother said, a bit exasperated. "I cannot afford to keep buying you new clothes every time the Mole throws a party."

"But, Mom!" Lina yelled, "What if he decides to marry me for real this time? Mrs. Field Mouse says..."

"Lina, you are no bigger than my thumb," her mother replied exasperatedly. "Take a strand of spidersilk and some yellow rose leaves from the garden and fashion a new gown from that."

"Well, Sparrow did say the King of the Flower Elves might be there," Lina murmured, mulling the idea over in her mind.


	9. Billy Goats Gruff: Troll's Toll

Tale's Truth

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I grew up with these stories and I don't own them in any way.

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**Billy Goats Gruff: Troll's Toll**

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"We're not passing over your bridge until you've paid the toll," the first brother told the troll.

"I've got to eat!" the troll whined.

"Then answer our riddles three," the second brother replied.

The troll sighed. What other choice did he have? "Okay," he agreed.

"Make the journey and find a homeless man," the third brother said.

The troll scratched his head. This was a toughie.

Five minutes later...

"I give," he surrendered.

"The sound our hooves make on your cobblestone home," the third brother answered. "Trip, tramp."

The troll wanted to hit himself in the head. "Okay, so what's the next riddle?"

The three brothers grinned at one another.

The first brother spoke. "Loop-the-loops and spirals are woven by these."

The troll grinned. This one was too easy. "A spider weaving her web," he chortled with glee.

The first brother nodded gravely. "Correct," he replied.

The second brother came forward with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Here's my riddle, troll. What's really on the other side of your bridge?"

"Greener pastures?"

"Nope."

"Human junkyard?"

"Nope."

"More annoying goats?"

"Close."

"I give up," the troll said exhausted. "What is really on the other side of my bridge?"

"That's for us to know and you to find out," the second brother retorted, leading the way over the cobblestone bridge.

The troll growled in frustration. It was the same thing every day. Starting this afternoon, he was going to the Faerie Public Library and reading some joke books. Payback time and maybe a goat sandwich for supper.

He grinned. "Anything is possible."


End file.
